Five Rules to Live By

1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. (NIV)

Paul throws this in at the end of his first letter to the Corinthians. In this one sentence I find a lot of important points to remember as we travel on our Christian journey.

We are to be on guard.


We are to be aware of what is going on around us always watching out for the works of the enemy and his temptations. Others we know may be used as his vessels to coax us into things to bring us away from our journey.

We are to stand firm in the faith.

The faith being our belief in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And in our knowing that God the Father loves us and is always with us. That He is a loving God always out for our best interest. Yet like any good parent, He allows us to make our own choices in life while standing by to pick up the pieces when we realize we have taken the wrong path.

We are to be courageous.

The easiest thing to do is stand by and watch the world go by. And in this day and age we can do that without ever leaving our house. Many are worldly and opinionated about what is happening in the world only because of their addiction to television and the various news channels. And courageous is not about running into a burning building to save a child. It is about courage to go where most Christians dare not to find the lost and tell them about our faith; tell them about our experience with Jesus Christ.

We are to be strong.

Although it is a good thing to spend time building our physical body up. And I recommend a daily exercise program either at home or at a local gym, but that is not what this is about. We are to be strong in our faith. We know that we know that we know we are a child of God and we are saved by the blood of the Lamb. In Jesus we are strong and able to stand up against the wiles of the enemy which comes in all forms of mankind. Be strong when our friends and family members come against us. Be strong when even strangers confront us. Know that with Christ all things are possible and it is not our strength but His that we walk forth in.

We are to do everything in love.

And this is the most important of all the five rules. God is love and we are children made in the image and likeness of Him. When we fall into temptation, we take our eyes off of God. We momentarily forget who we are in Christ and that He is in us. We ignore the Holy Spirit within and take off on a side road in our journey. We are to love our fellow Christians, the non-believers we come into contact with, and our enemies. But we must be careful to remember the first four rules and not let our love for others allow us to be drawn away from our journey with Christ.